Catastrophic health expenditure in sub-Saharan Africa: systematic review and meta-analysis [Scholarly Article - Bull World Health Organ, 2022]

Title:

Catastrophic health expenditure in sub-Saharan Africa: systematic review and meta-analysis

 

Authors:

Paul Eze, Lucky Osaheni Lawani, Ujunwa Justina Agu & Yubraj Acharya

 

Published:

Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 2022 May 1; 100(5): 337-351J.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9047424/

 

Abstract:

Objective 

To estimate the incidence of, and trends in, catastrophic health expenditure in sub-Saharan Africa.  

 

Methods 

We systematically reviewed the scientific and grey literature to identify population-based studies on catastrophic health expenditure in sub-Saharan Africa published between 2000 and 2021. We performed a meta-analysis using two definitions of catastrophic health expenditure: 10% of total household expenditure and 40% of household non-food expenditure. The results of individual studies were pooled by pairwise meta-analysis using the random-effects model.  

 

Findings 

We identified 111 publications covering a total of 1 040 620 households across 31 sub-Saharan African countries. Overall, the pooled annual incidence of catastrophic health expenditure was 16.5% (95% confidence interval, CI: 12.9–20.4; 50 datapoints; 462 151 households; I2 = 99.9%) for a threshold of 10% of total household expenditure and 8.7% (95% CI: 7.2–10.3; 84 datapoints; 795 355 households; I2 = 99.8%) for a threshold of 40% of household non-food expenditure. Countries in central and southern sub-Saharan Africa had the highest and lowest incidence, respectively. A trend analysis found that, after initially declining in the 2000s, the incidence of catastrophic health expenditure in sub-Saharan Africa increased between 2010 and 2020. The incidence among people affected by specific diseases, such as noncommunicable diseases, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, was generally higher.  

 

Conclusion 

Although data on catastrophic health expenditure for some countries were sparse, the data available suggest that a non-negligible share of households in sub-Saharan Africa experienced catastrophic expenditure when accessing health-care services. Stronger financial protection measures are needed.

 

Mission education left an uneven legacy: an analysis of 26 African countries [The Conversation, August 2021]

Title:

Mission education left an uneven legacy: an analysis of 26 African countries

Author:

Bastian Becker 

Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Bremen, Research Center on Inequality and Social Policy (SOCIUM), Universität Bremen

Published:

The Conversation, 24 August 2021

https://theconversation.com/mission-education-left-an-uneven-legacy-an-analysis-of-26-african-countries-166315

From the article:

Christian missionaries were the first to introduce European-style education in sub-Saharan Africa. Mission societies often expanded into territories before colonial powers did, and providing education only cost them a little more.  

 

Missionaries continued to be the main providers of education even after colonial powers established control during the so-called Scramble for Africa which occurred between 1884-1914.

 

Exchange rate misalignment, state fragility, and economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa - by Brian Tavonga Mazorodze [Scholarly Article - Cogent Economics & Finance, 2021]

Title:

Exchange rate misalignment, state fragility, and economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa

 

Author: 

Brian Tavonga Mazorodze

Department of  Economics, University of Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Reviewing editor:

Mariam Camarero

Universitat Jaume, Spain

Published:

Cogent Economics & Finance, published online: 12 March 2021

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23322039.2021.1898113

Abstract:

The sluggish and sometimes negative growth in sub-Saharan Africa has defined the objectives of most studies seeking to explain the sources of its slow growth. I contribute to this inquiry by estimating how state fragility influences the effect of exchange rate misalignment on economic growth. Since exchange rate misalignment captures the distortionary effects of inappropriate macroeconomic policies in the main, my hypothesis is that resilient and less fragile states cope better with macroeconomic imbalances making misaligned exchange rates less likely to have serious effects on growth in such countries. In testing this hypothesis, I first measure misalignment as deviations of the actual exchange rate from an estimated equilibrium level using the dynamic ordinary least squares method. I then insert this variable and its interaction with state fragility in a growth specification. In line with my hypothesis, results from the system generalised method of moments and data on 13 sub-Saharan countries observed between 2009 and 2018 show a significantly negative effect of exchange rate misalignment on growth that increases with state fragility. Based on this evidence, I urge countries in this region to improve state resilience as an effort to reduce the negative effect of exchange rate misalignment on economic growth.

Research led by University of Cape Town, South Africa - UCT’s Herman Wasserman leads global study on disinformation

Title:

UCT’s Herman Wasserman leads global study on disinformation

 

Author:

Carla Bernardo

 

Published:

University of Cape Town (UCT), 26 January 2021

https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2021-01-26-ucts-herman-wasserman-leads-global-study-on-disinformation

 

From the article:

Professor Herman Wasserman from the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Centre for Film and Media Studies (CFMS) will embark on an international study on the information disorder in the Global South, with funds of approximately R4.5 million from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

Academics’ societal engagement in ecologies of knowledge: A case study from Mozambique [Scholarly Article - Science and Public Policy, 8 December 2020]

Title:

Academics’ societal engagement in ecologies of knowledge: A case study from Mozambique 

 

Authors:

Nelson Casimiro Zavale & Christian Schneijderberg 

 

Published:

Science and Public Policy, scaa055, 8 December 2020

https://academic.oup.com/spp/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/scipol/scaa055/6026551?redirectedFrom=fulltext

 

Abstract:

Sub-Saharan Africa’s (SSA) structural conditions are mostly considered unfavorable to foster academics’ societal engagement (ASE)—that is collaboration between higher education institutions and external stakeholders in general and university–industry linkages in particular. The received view is that ASE in SSA empirically studied only through macro-structural data related to approaches and metrics of national innovation system or knowledge-based economy will predictably display weak portrait and potentially not make visible specific patterns that ASE in SSA may have. This theory-led study reports findings from a case study examining the inputs, in-process, outputs, and impact/outcome of ASE in a university in Mozambique, an African low-income country. The article attempts to make visible specific patterns of ASE that occurs within the ecologies of knowledge in a country like Mozambique. However, we are far away from being able to suggest context adequate indicators. Instead, we provide insights into the qualities and patterns of ASE cooperation.

 

Enhancing ICT for productivity in sub-Saharan Africa: Thresholds for complementary policies [Scholarly Article - African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development, 13 May 2020]

Title:

Enhancing ICT for productivity in sub-Saharan Africa: Thresholds for complementary policies

 

Authors:

Simplice A. Asongu

African Governance and Development Institute, Research Department, Yaoundé, Cameroon

&

Paul N. Acha-Anyi

Department of Tourism, Hospitality and Sports Management, Walter Sisulu University, Buffalo City, South Africa

Published:

African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development, Volume 12, Issue 7,  pp. 831-845 (13 May 2020)

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20421338.2020.1732596

Abstract:

The purpose of this research is to investigate the relevance of enhancing information and communication technology (ICT) on dynamics of total factor productivity (TFP) in 25 sub-Saharan African countries using data covering the period 1980–2014. The empirical evidence is based on the Generalised Method of Moments. The following main findings are established. First, while enhancing ICT overwhelmingly has net positive effects on productivity, the corresponding marginal effects are negative. Second, an extended analysis is performed to establish thresholds for complementary policies. These thresholds are: 100% mobile phone penetration for TFP; between 101.214% and 101.419% mobile phone penetration for welfare TFP and 15% internet penetration for welfare real TFP. It follows that approximately 100% mobile penetration and 15% internet penetration are thresholds at which ICT should be complemented with other macroeconomic policies for favorable outcomes on productivity dynamics. Other policy implications are discussed.

 

HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) - A chance to turn the tide on HIV infections in Sub-Saharan Africa

Title:

A chance to turn the tide on HIV infections in Sub-Saharan Africa

 

By:

UWN reporter

 

Published:

University World News, 12 November 2020

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20201111203217984

 

From the article:

Researchers from the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) believe a breakthrough in the development of a long-acting product – an injection – for HIV prevention could significantly reduce the risk of HIV acquisition, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa where 59% of new infections occur in women, particularly young women.

External Debt, Investment and Economic Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa [Trends in Agricultural Economics, 2020]

Title:

External Debt, Investment and Economic Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa 

Authors:

Mutiu Abimbola Oyinlola, Abdulfatai A. Adedeji & Rasheed Oluwaseun Oladipupo

Published:

Trends in Agricultural Economics, Volume 13, Issue 1, pp.1-10 (2020)

https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=tae.2020.1.10

 

From the abstract:

Background and Objective: External debt has been identified as a key source of finance for many countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) due to inadequate funds from other sources. Many countries relied on external debt to finance their investment with the expectation of spurring economic growth. Therefore, this study investigates the effect of external debt and investment on economic performance.

Scholarly Article (EClinicalMedicine, 21 April 2020) - SARS-CoV-2 pandemic expanding in sub-Saharan Africa: Considerations for COVID-19 in people living with HIV

Title:
SARS-CoV-2 pandemic expanding in sub-Saharan Africa: Considerations for COVID-19 in people living with HIV

Authors:
Paul K. Drain & Nigel Garrett

Published:
EClinicalMedicine (published by The Lancet), 21 April 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2020.100342

From the scholarly article:
In December 2019, a novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, started a global pandemic of respiratory illness, termed COVID-19 [1]. The spectrum of COVID-19 has ranged from a mild, self-limiting respiratory tract illness to severe progressive pneumonia, multi-organ failure, and death [2]. Older patients and those with a weaker immune system appear to have a greater risk of death [3]. Thus far, the vast majority of deaths from COVID-19 have occurred in Italy, China, Iran, and Spain—all Northern hemisphere countries with good health care resources and a low HIV prevalence. After the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic reached sub-Saharan Africa, COVID-19 cases may expand more quickly in high HIV prevalence communities with poor health resources.

General News (GHANA) - Why Ghana’s smallholders aren’t excited by the latest ‘Green Revolution’

Title:
Why Ghana’s smallholders aren’t excited by the latest ‘Green Revolution’

Author:
Siera Vercillo, University of Waterloo

Published:
The Conversation, 13 April 2020

From the article:
"The Green Revolution – the introduction of new higher yielding seed varieties, increased use of fertiliser, irrigation and other mechanisation introduced since the 1960s – brought about a great increase in crop yields in some countries in the Global South. Hybridised seeds produced more grains per plant and were more responsive to fertiliser and irrigation.  

But the effects of this “revolution” were famously uneven, both between and within countries. The farming environment in sub-Saharan Africa wasn’t as well suited to the technologies as Asia and Latin America."

To read this article:
https://theconversation.com/why-ghanas-smallholders-arent-excited-by-the-latest-green-revolution-134804